An attorney who faced contempt of court accusations in connection with his representation of death-row inmate Gary Haugen has lost his bid to clear his record of the charges.

The five charges filed on behalf of Marion County against Andy Simrin were dismissed last year. But a judge hearing Simrin’s request emailed them Wednesday that the state’s law allowing expungement of charges does not apply to contempt-of-court accusations, his lawyer said.

Amy Queen, Marion County's deputy district attorney, had argued against Simrin’s bid to clear his record, saying the expungement law only applies to certain “offenses." Offenses includes violations, misdemeanors and felonies, but not contempt.

Contempt occupies a strange place in Oregon law. The Oregon Court of Appeals has declared in multiple opinions that it is not a crime. However, under state law, a person convicted of contempt can face up to six months in jail and a fine per count.

In fact, the confusion about whether to treat contempt as a crime led authorities to try to book Simrin and his co-counsel into jail when the charges were filed in 2012. The Oregon Supreme Court intervened, however, instructing the judge not to require their bookings and mugshots.

Simrin and his lawyer, Larry Matasar, had argued that the Oregon Supreme Court's ruling last year in State v. Fuller established that the label the Legislature gives a certain charge does not determine the level of protections defendants should receive. Matasar pointed out that Simrin faced up to 2.5 years of incarceration and a 5 percent fine if he had been convicted -- despite contempt not being termed a "crime."

Matasar said they will appeal the expungement denial.

“When (prosecutors) filed the charges, they called it a crime seven times,” Matasar said. “Now, when they’re trying to keep him from getting expungement, they say it’s not a crime. That just doesn’t strike me as fair.”

He noted that criminals who are convicted of some drug offenses can have their records cleared under state law. But a criminal defense lawyer who was accused of contempt because of his advocacy cannot have dismissed charges erased, Matasar said.

“It’s hard to defend death-penalty cases,” he said.

The charges stem from a June 2011 court hearing in which Simrin and his co-counsel, W. Keith Goody, were dismissed as attorneys for Haugen by Marion County Presiding Judge Jamese Rhoades. The lawyers opposed Haugen’s efforts to initiate execution proceedings.

She allowed the two to remain until replacements could be appointed but instructed them to get her permission if they felt they needed to file something on Haugen’s behalf. Simrin said he could not envision anything he would need to file.

But after talking with Goody, Simrin said he felt he needed to seek his reinstatement and filed a request with the state Supreme Court. He faxed Rhoades to notify her but did not ask her permission.

The dispute led Washington County prosecutors -- who were asked to take the case by Marion County -- to file contempt charges a year later. The charges were dismissed after Simrin and Goody wrote letters of apology to Rhoades.